GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 125,463 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,616 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Comcast by 3.7% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 0.7% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,541,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $34.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.93. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation operates as a media and technology company worldwide. It operates through Residential Connectivity & Platforms, Business Services Connectivity, Media, Studios, and Theme Parks segments. The Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment provides residential broadband and wireless connectivity services, residential and business video services, sky-branded entertainment television networks, and advertising.